Catherine and Hobbes
by Knight Writer 95
Summary: Twenty six years after that last trip in the toboggan, Calvin is married and has a daughter who's having problems with the monsters under the bed. Can an old friend of Calvin's help her? And can his daughter help him see his best friend again? R&R.
1. The Beginning

_Catherine and Hobbes_

"Wow, it really snowed last night! Isn't this wonderful?" Calvin asked his best friend, Hobbes as they trudged through the fresh fallen snow with the toboggan.

"Everything familiar has disappeared! The world looks brand-new!" the anthropomorphic tiger agreed.

"A new year… a fresh clean start!" continued the six-year old.

"It's like having a big white sheet of paper to draw on!"

"A day full of possibilities! It's a magical world, Hobbes ol' buddy…" Calvin commented as they got on the toboggan. "Let's go exploring!"

Calvin's voice echoed through the woods as he and his best friend set of to do just that.

* * *

26 years later…

"DAAAAAAAAAD!"

A now thirty-two year old Calvin groaned as the voice penetrated the quiet atmosphere of the house. He turned over and pulled his wife closer to him in hopes that the hollering would just stop. No such luck.

"DAAAAAAAAD!"

"Aren't you going to do something about our daughter?" muttered Susie.

If someone had told six-year old Calvin that he would one day marry his then neighbor and object of his scorn, Susie Derkins, he would have called them loony and gotten the dry heaves.

"She's your daughter too, you know," he muttered back.

"It's not my problem. She's calling for you."

"DAAAAAAAAAAAD!"

Calvin grimaced and finally got up out of the nice warm bed.

"Twenty-six years and you still drive me crazy, Derkins," he smiled slightly as he stretched and was rewarded with some snaps.

"Well you still drive me crazy too. Like when you call me by that name when you haven't been able to for the past eight years."

Calvin chuckled and glanced at the digital clock. 3:44 am. Now he knew how his parents felt when he got them up this early. "I swear the kid's just like me when I was her age."

He sighed and forced his legs to carry him down the hall to his daughter's room. When he opened the door he was greeted with a screech and a dart in the forehead.

"AAAAAIIIEEEE! A monster in the hallway!"

Calvin quickly shut the door before he opened it a crack again.

"Whoa, easy Catherine, it's me!"

"Dad?"

"Yes, now please put down the dart gun!"

"Sorry dad."

"It's alright, now what was all that about?" he asked as he sat down on his daughter's bed.

Both Calvin's and Susie's hair gene must have been dominate because Catherine's hair was blonde with brown streaks in it. It had Calvin's familiar spikes but fell in a more feminine way. Her eyes, though, were the same brown as her mother's.

"There are monsters under my bed! They're going to eat me as soon as I fall asleep!"

The corners of Calvin's mouth twitched upward slightly as he recalled the days when he thought the same way. His parents never played along for some reason but at least he had a friend to protect him. Wait a minute, a friend?

"You know what Cat, I just might know someone who can help you with this monster problem. I'll be right back."

Calvin walked out of the room and went to his studio. The room was illuminated by the light of the full moon filtering in through the window. It fell perfectly on who he was looking for. Hobbes sat on a shelf of the bookcase in all his orange and black striped glory. Calvin pulled him down and looked at him. Sad as it was, Calvin no longer saw Hobbes the way he used to. He now saw what his parents and everyone else saw: a limp tattered and stitched up stuffed tiger. Seeing Hobbes triggered a flash of memories for him. It had been a slow transition to letting go of Hobbes in a way. As Calvin grew up he actually made some friends. He started hanging out with them more and saw Hobbes less and less. The tiger would still pounce on Calvin when he got home from Jr. high but by that time Calvin was able to hold his own against the exuberant Hobbes. In the winter Hobbes would want to build snowmen or go walking in the woods and they sometimes did. But not always, with Calvin saying he was going to see the guys or Susie.

That was another change for Calvin. Actually becoming friends with the person he had viewed as his nemesis. By the time the sixth grade started he and Susie had become friends. When they got to high school they officially became a couple and shared their first kiss. As high school progressed Calvin started seeing Hobbes as a stuffed animal more and more. Both Calvin and Susie were ecstatic when they found out they were going to the same college. By this time Calvin had lost the ability to see Hobbes all together but couldn't bring himself to put his old friend in a box. Three years after graduation the couple were walking through the woods behind Calvin's house when he finally asked Susie to marry him. She said yes and they had the wedding eight months later. Nobody paid any attention to the stuffed tiger that had somehow made it on top of one of the tables with the pictures of the lucky couple. Two years later Susie became pregnant with Catherine and the rest is history.

Calvin snapped out of his revere and smiled at his best friend.

"Hi ol' buddy," he whispered. "It's been a long time hasn't it? Listen, I need a favor from you, for old time's sake."

He paused for a second as though expecting an answer. In his mind's eye he could see his friend cross his arms and raise his eyebrow as though to say 'You expect a favor from me after leaving me on a shelf and forgetting about me for years?'

"Just listen for one minute, please? It's my daughter, Catherine. She's six and there are monsters under her bed and she needs someone to protect her. She's inherited my inability to make friends at that age so it'd actually be great if you'd stay with her. I've been told that she's a lot like me and that's true. She has a great imagination and I'm sure the two of you would get along famously. What do you say?"

The plush toy remained silent and Calvin sighed. He stood back up and carried Hobbes to Catherine's room. His daughter cocked her head to the side when she saw Hobbes.

"Who's that?" she asked.

"This is Hobbes," Calvin said as he set the stuffed animal down across form his daughter. "He's the fiercest, but also the most loyal, person I know. He protected me when I was your age and I know he'll do the same for you."

"He used to be yours?"

"Uh huh, he was my best friend and we had many crazy adventures together."

"Really? Can you tell me?"

"Not tonight I'm afraid, maybe after I've had more sleep. Right now, though, it's time for you to go back to sleep. You have school in a few hours."

Calvin got up and left the room. He was about to close the door when he looked up and swore he saw Hobbes the way he used to, smiling at him and giving him the thumbs up. He blinked and when he opened his eyes again there was just an old stuffed tiger. What did this mean though? Could he see Hobbes again? He shook his head to clear it and decided not to think about it. But he smiled as he closed the door and went back to join his wife.

* * *

"Did you take care of it?" murmured Susie as Calvin snuggled back up beside her.

"Yeah, the problem's solved," he answered as he draped an arm around her.

"What did you do?"

"I gave Hobbes to her."

"Hobbes? You gave her Hobbes?"

"Yeah, something wrong with that?"

"No, there's nothing wrong, it's just that I didn't realize you'd kept him all these years."

"He's been on a shelf of the bookcase in my studio. Haven't you seen him there?"

"No, I don't go in there very often and when I do my attention is on this rather handsome guy."

"Oh? What's he like?" asked Calvin as he kissed Susie on the cheek.

"Well, I've known him since I was six and at first I thought of him an annoying, immature, weird little brat. But as he got older I discovered other things about him. He had quite a philosophical mind, a vivid imagination, and as he matured he became rather attractive," Susie smiled as she turned to face her husband

"Sounds like someone I'd like to know," Calvin muttered as he claimed Susie's lips.

It would be awhile until they went back to sleep.

* * *

Back in Catherine's room she and Hobbes were still looking at each other.

"Hi, I'm Hobbes," Hobbes finally said. "Your dad told me that you're Catherine, right?"

"Hello, yes, my name is Catherine, but my parents sometimes call me Cat."

"I like that nickname," Hobbes grinned.

"You don't eat little girls, do you?"

"No, I mainly eat tuna."

"You will protect me from the monsters, right?"

"Of course, as long as there's a ferocious animal in bed with you those monsters will just run and run and run and run away," said Hobbes quite proudly.

Catherine smiled and pulled Hobbes closer to her so she could snuggle up. Before the duo fell asleep they were both thinking about how great it was to have a new friend.

The monsters under the bed didn't bother Catherine anymore.

_Only the beginning…_

_'Don't put away your childish things. Save them for your child.'_

_~Unknown_

* * *

A/N: My first _Calvin and Hobbes _fic! What do you think? I hope I do the cartoon justice as it Is my absolute favorite comic period. This idea came to me after I saw a picture on the internet about an adult Calvin giving his daughter, Bacon (who names their kid that?!) Hobbes. Anyway, it put this idea in my head and I had to get it out. Now this might become a series and I have the very basic plot of it mapped out in my head. It would basically revolve around Catherine showing Calvin how to use his imagination the was he used to and that eventually affecting Susie as well and allowing her to see Hobbes the way Calvin and Catherine do. But to make this work I need ideas for future chapter plots. If you love the strip as much as I do, please please PLEASE PM some to me or put them in a review. I really want to make this work but I need support. Thanks to everyone who reads and reviews and keeps the magic of _Calvin and Hobbes _alive.

I think that this part of the fic is a bit redundant but I'll say it anyway. I don't own the masterpiece that is _Calvin and Hobbes. Catherine and Hobbes _is based off the comic _Hobbes and Bacon _by _Pants are Overrated._ Besides, I'm sure there's a reason they call it _Fan_fiction. In other words... GET ALL THESE COPS AND LAWYERS OUT OF MY HOUSE!


	2. A Week Later

_Ch. 2: A Week Later_

It had been a week since Calvin had given Hobbes to Catherine and the two were already inseparable. It reminded Calvin a lot of his childhood and adventures with Hobbes. Catherine and Hobbes getting to know each other and Hobbes had to agree that Catherine was definitely her father's daughter. There were differences though. She was like a more mellowed version of Calvin, but no less fun. She had her dad's imagination, extensive vocabulary, philosophical mind, penchant for getting into and causing trouble, and sometimes cynical outlook on the world. Areas where the differences were more obvious were school. While it did take some prying to get Catherine out of bed on a school morning, it was not nearly as bad as it had been with Calvin. As a result people on their street actually needed to set an alarm. Catherine had an aversion to school, not as strong as Calvin's, but she got decent grades in every subject except math. She had an interest in Dinosaurs as well but also loved history in general. She was an outsider at school and had no friends, as Calvin had said. She had even hit a boy once for making fun of her. Calvin and Susie had gotten a call and Susie had been disappointed in Catherine. But Calvin went upstairs that evening and told her he was proud of her for standing up for herself, but to just do it in more civil ways in the future. He was still unable to see Hobbes as anything more than just a plush toy.

"Hobbes?" asked Catherine as they walked through the woods on a brisk fall afternoon.

"Yes?"

"Why doesn't my dad see you the way I do?"

"What do you mean?"

"He said you were his best friend when he was my age, so did he see you as a bipedal, sentient, intelligent, anthropomorphic tiger?"

"He did."

"So why can't he see you like that now? I mean, he's already referred to you as a stuffed tiger so it's obvious he doesn't see you."

"He grew up. Grownups and other people also saw me as just a stuffed animal when I was with Calvin. I think that part of the reason, if not the entire reason, that he could see me as I really am is due to his vivid imagination, something you obviously inherited. That broke down the barriers that most people have to protect themselves from information overload. But as he grew up the he conformed to the world view of the way things should be and eventually stopped seeing me all together."

"That sounds pretty sad. I'm not sure I want to grow up now if it means I can't see you."

"It took longer for your dad not to see me than I thought it would, though. He was in his Junior year of high school the first time he saw me as just and inanimate object. By the middle of college that's all he saw me as."

"Will he ever be able to see you again?"

"I don't know. But he might if the night he gave me to you is any indication."

"What do you mean?"

"When he was about to close the door he looked at me stared for a second, as though surprised. I think he saw the real me for the first time in sixteen years. But enough of this sad talk, I'll race you back to the house," Hobbes said and darted off without a warning.

"Hey! No fair!" Catherine yelled and ran after him.

* * *

Hobbes appeared back in the back in the backyard with a look of pride on his face.

"I win!" he announced as Catherine came huffing over.

"Yeah, but you cheated," she gasped.

"Me? Cheat? Never," Hobbes said feigning hurt.

"Well you did! You took off without even saying ready, set, go!"

"Those are just formalities that we do without in the wild."

"You are such a tiger."

"And you're such a human."

They glared at each other for a second before they broke out laughing.

"Well what do you want to do now?" asked Hobbes as he recovered from the laugh attack.

"I have an idea, c'mon!"

* * *

Calvin was raking the leaves in the backyard when he saw Catherine and Hobbes come barreling out of the woods. Catherine was carrying Hobbes and when she stopped she looked like she was having an argument with the toy. Eventually they fell down and he heard his daughter laughing. She got back up, picked up Hobbes by the paws, and started spinning him around. Calvin smiled as he watched the two and wished that he could see Hobbes again. But nothing else had happened since the night he gave him to Catherine.

"Fall wasn't so bad at that age," he reminisced. "Now it's rake, rake, rake."

Truth be told, Calvin's imagination did leak into his life every now and then, like it was doing now. He looked at the pile of leaves he had made and could see it smiling at him, like it used to do when he was about to dive in as a kid about to dive right in only to discover the pile wanted to eat him.

"Keep smiling buddy, you're not getting me anymore," he glared as he went back to work.

"WHEEEEEE!"

Catherine flew through the air and landed in the leaf pile, sending leaves everywhere.

"Wow! Hobbes threw me from way over there!" she giggled as she ran back over to the tiger.

Calvin looked at the decimated leaf pile and couldn't help himself.

"HA!" he said while pointing at it. Then he caught himself. "Wait… what am I doing?"

Calvin mumbled to himself about the extra work he had now and raked the pile back. But it never stopped smiling as long as he was out there.

_Getting old is mandatory. Growing up is optional._

_~Unknown_

* * *

A/N: Well this was completely unexpected and yes, this is basically just a filler chapter. But it does serve the purpose of setting up the plot device of the possibility of Calvin seeing Hobbes again. On another note, I need quotes, nostalgic or otherwise, about childhood and growing up. If you have some please send them in a PM or put them in a review. I only have two more and this fic is going to be more chapters than that. Thanks to everyone who reads and reviews this.

Next: The Return of the Cardboard Box


	3. The Return of the Cardboard Box

_Ch. 3: The Return of the Cardboard Box_

"Hi Calvin. Mind if I join you for lunch?" asked Susie as she approached the table Calvin was sitting at.

"Yes."

Susie was undeterred and sat next to him anyway.

"I have soup today," she said conversationally. "What do you have?"

"A squid eyeball sandwich," Calvin answered without blinking.

"You do not! Don't be disgusting," she exclaimed.

"I like to suck out the retinas," he continued as he took a bite of his sandwich.

Susie had had enough. She got on top of the table and called for the teacher.

"MISS WORMWOOD!"

"Do you want a bite? Or were you leaving?" Calvin asked with a grin.

* * *

Twenty-six years later…

While Susie would admit that Calvin's description of his lunches in the first grade often made her loose her appetite, as an adult, she was glad for it. That part of Calvin had rubbed off on her over the years and when they became a couple in high school, he still did it but she could detect the teasing tone behind his words. She honestly believed that as an adult, she was better off for it. Raising a child that was nearly as troublesome as Calvin was at six years old became a daunting task at times and if it weren't for her memories of Calvin at that age she probably would have been irritated all the time instead of finding some way to laugh at Catherine's antics. Susie also believed that it taught her how to be more loose, to be a more fun person to be around. She would always be grateful for that. Calvin's voice brought her out of her thoughts as she approached the dining table with her soup.

"Hi, what do you have for lunch, dear?"

"Alien tentacle soup! You?" she asked with a small grin.

"A crushed bat sandwich," Calvin replied just as smooth as his wife. "It's a bit fuzzy at times, but it's OK if you don't think about it."

"I think mine is still alive," Susie continued as she raised her spoon.

Getting an idea Susie flicked her spoon at herself and one of the 'tentacles' landed under her nose. Calvin decided to play along.

"OH NO! One of them got you!"

"It's trying to suck my brains out, honey!"

* * *

Hobbes and Catherine were on the sofa playing a video game and the duo could hear every word that Calvin and Susie were saying.

"My parents are so weird," commented Catherine with an 'I'm completely weirded out right now' expression on her face.

"Do you think they're going to start smooching?" Hobbes asked as he looked over the sofa at the playful couple.

"Bleccchh! They'd better not! Thanks for that image, Hobbes. C'mon, let's go up to the attic and rummage through dad's old stuff before the 'weirdness' in here becomes intolerable," she said as she saved the game.

* * *

Calvin and Susie looked at each other and burst out laughing. Calvin was laughing so hard he fell out of his chair and Susie had tears falling down her cheeks. The laughter finally died down to stifled giggles and their breathing evened out.

"Have I told you how much I love you today?" asked Calvin.

"I don't think so."

"Well I do, and I couldn't be happier that you're my wife."

"And I'm glad that you're my husband. You encourage me to let my inner child out every once in a while and I do believe that I'm better off for it. I never would have said this when we were six but I'm glad we met."

"So am I Susie, so am I."

Calvin took a sip of his water and snorted a laugh as he put the glass back down.

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing, I'm just remembering the first lunch we had together."

"I remember that, you claimed you had a squid eyeball sandwich!"

"I did, and you told me to not be disgusting."

"Seriously, squid eyeballs? Where would your mom have gotten those?"

"Well, they're not common and I'll admit that they're an acquired taste, kind of like Escargot."

"Stop, you'll make me have another laugh attack!"

The rest of the conversation for that lunch was about their memories from childhood and a fair amount of them involved Calvin.

* * *

Catherine and Hobbes were rummaging around through the boxes and things in the attic when Hobbes found something. He hadn't noticed it at first as it was in the corner and covered by a tarp but the handle to it was sticking out and he recognized it.

"Hey, take a look at this," he called over his shoulder as he pulled off the tarp.

"What is it?" asked Catherine as she walked over.

"It's the wagon. Calvin and I used to ride down hills in the woods with this in the spring and summer. Of course, we usually ended up crashing or flying off a cliff."

"It looks like its seen better days, though," Catherine pointed out.

She was right. The little red wagon was faded with age, had multiple rust spots, and was missing a wheel.

"It's nothing," insisted Hobbes. "A lick of paint, a bit of oil, and this will be restored to its former glory and we can use it."

"Wow, you really think so?"

"I'm sure that Calvin would want you to have it."

"When we're done up here let's go back down and ask him!"

Catherine turned around and started exploring a bit more and found a cardboard box that had childish writing on the side.

T-I-M-E M-A-C-H-I-N-E

"Hobbes? What is this?"

Hobbes took one look at the box and freaked.

"NO! You're not getting me in that thing! I'm not being transmogrified or duplicated and I'm certainly not going back to the Jurassic period!" he exclaimed as he bolted from the attic, tail bushy.

"What was that all about?"

* * *

Calvin and Susie were cleaning up their dishes when Catherine came in carrying the cardboard box.

"Dad, I found this in the attic. What is it? Hobbes took one look at it and ran."

"Wow! I forgot I had this in the attic," Calvin grinned as he looked at the box. "This, Catherine, is an invention of mine from when I was six. With a few modifications this box can be a transmogrifier, to turn you into something else, a duplicator to make copies of yourself, and a time machine!"

"A time machine? Really? Can I use it?"

"Slow down, sweetie. This has seen better days and needs some maintenance first. Plus, I have some ideas to improve it. Give me a half hour and you can use it."

"YIPPPPEEE!"

* * *

During that half hour Catherine talked to Hobbes nonstop about how excited she was. She was going to travel in time! She couldn't wait for her dad to finish repairs. Hobbes, predictably, was not all too excited about the whole thing. His tail still bushed up at the thought of his and Calvin's first trip to the time of the dinosaurs. But Catherine assured him that here first destination was likely to be the industrial revolution. Hobbes still wasn't sure. After what seemed like an eternity, Calvin was done with the time machine/duplicator/transmogrifier

"All right, Catherine! It's done!"

"YES! Let me see! Let me see!"

"Her it is, sweetheart. I've made these to go with it," Calvin said as he held up an assortment of stick on decals. "These are for when you've got it as a transmogrifier. You put this label on it along with this keypad and button. You use the keypad to input what other animal you want to be. Remember that you crawl under the transmogrifier. Now when you want it to be a duplicator, just put it on its side and put on this label and take off the keypad. You climb into the time machine through the top and input you desired destination time on this keypad, which you put inside here," he demonstrated.

"Oh boy! I can't wait to show Hobbes!"

"About that, speaking from experience, if you want him to go time travelling with you, it's best to lure him in with good snacks."

"Thanks dad, you're the best," Catherine said as she gave Calvin a hug.

"You're more than welcome. Oh, before I forget, you'll want these when you time travel," he added as he produced two pairs of goggles.

"You need goggles to travel through time?"

"Of course, it's not like walking down a street. You have to contend with vortexes and light speeds. So goggles are a very necessary safety device."

"Alright, always wear your goggles, got it!"

"Good, now go have some fun."

"I will, Hobbes! Where are you, you flea ridden mongrel?"

_There's no point in being grownup if you can't be childish sometimes._

_~Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor_

* * *

A/N: And there you have it! I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did writing it. What should happen to Catherine and Hobbes on their first time travel escapade to the industrial revolution? You decide! PM me ideas or put them in a review! The next chapter doesn't get posted until I get ideas.


End file.
